Washington (CNN) - As House Speaker John Boehner prepared to leave the Capitol Friday, President Barack Obama's top political adviser David Plouffe told Democratic activists the nation's attention on the fiscal cliff will increase now that Washington has failed to reach a deal. According individuals on the call, he asked Obama supporters to help spread the message that the president is doing what he can.

Plouffe offered aid for several progressive priorities in exchange for their help messaging on the president's work to get a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, according to participants.FULL POST

(CNN) – In the hours after the much-anticipated remarks Friday morning by the National Rifle Association responding to last week's deadly shooting at a Connecticut school, political figures weighed in, largely disagreeing with the organization's comments.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre spoke to reporters without taking questions and pointed to the no-weapons policies at schools that put children's lives at risk, calling for armed officers at every school.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama insist they're not giving up on the - currently stalled - one-on-one talks to avert the fiscal cliff, but regardless, sources in both parties now believe that with Boehner's Plan B having bombed, the next move will now start in the Senate.

A senior Democratic Senate source laid out three scenarios Democrats in the Senate are considering: either go over the cliff; push for a fall back measure, an alternative to going over the cliff; or push for a broad deal, such as the deal Obama offered Boehner last weekend, which Democrats said included $2 trillion in tax increases and spending cuts.FULL POST

(CNN) - The National Rifle Association is grieving the lives lost in last week's school shooting in Connecticut, but it is no-weapons policies at schools that put children's lives at risk, the group's executive director said Friday.

Wayne LaPierre spoke to reporters in an appearance that was interrupted twice by protesters shouting anti-NRA slogans and bearing banners in front of his podium, including one that said, "NRA killing our kids."

Washington (CNN) - A majority of Americans give a thumbs up to Sen. John Kerry becoming the country's next secretary of state, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Friday indicates that 57% of the public says it would be good for the country if the senior senator from Massachusetts becomes America's top diplomat, with 32% saying it would be bad for the nation.FULL POST